Dr Tofu's Birthday
by Awase
Summary: Tofu's birthday is arriving soon, but with it, dark secrets will be revealed.


I'm in the process of changing certain story elements. I'm not done with the editing, expanding, rewriting, sand-blasting, etc. I just needed to know if people would be willing to read it without the madness. This takes place about two years after volume 38 and things have changed.

Chapter 1version 1.2status: Experimental

DAY 1

Dr. Tofu sat at his dining room table and stared at the calendar. His birthday was coming in a week and once again, no one would celebrate it with him. He knew why too.

"I've never told them when my birthday is. Strange how none of them have asked, but that's ok. If they even thought about it, they'd also want to ask me how old I am. Not even Cologne would believe me if I told them. And I'm not sure where they could buy that many candles..."

In the other room, Genma poured hot water on himself to change back.

'So, the doctor's birthday is soon. I must inform everyone.'

Back at the Tendo dojo.

"Man, this is good. Kasumi, you've out done yourself again."

"Thank you Ranma, but..."

"She really is a good cook isn't she Ranma?" Akane sweated a bit, hoping Ranma didn't notice that she just interrupted Kasumi. 

"I just can't believe how much better you've gotten recently. It's like my mouth has died and gone to heaven." Just then the phone began to ring.

"I'll get it!" Akane shouted as she ran to the phone.

Seconds latter, Akane's scream rang throughout the house.

"Akane! What is it!" Ranma ran to the hallway to see if she was ok. Akane's face showed that she was in shock. "What's up Akane?"

"It's your dad. He just found out, Dr. Tofu's birthday is only a week away."

"Really!"

"Yeah. How come we've never thought to ask him about it?"

"I don't know. So, how old is the good doctor?"

"Hang on. Uncle Saotome, do you know how old he is?" Akane waited and shook her head in response to what she heard. "Thanks. He said he didn't find out, but he's going to continue to investigate."

"We've got to throw the doc a party!" Ranma said. "After everything he's done for us, we owe it to him to throw him the best he's ever been to!"

"Yeah!" Akane jumped up as she agreed.

On the roof tops, Akane and Ranma ran as fast as they could to the Cat-Cafe.

"Hey Ranma, let's make a bet."

"A bet? About?"

"How old you think Tofu is."

"Sure, but what do I get if I'm right?"

"If I'm right, then you've got to spar with me and help me get better. If you're right, I'll let you go on a date with Shampoo."

"Who says I want to got on a date with her!"

"Oh, how about Ukyo?"

"Man, Uc-chan's just my friend. I don't have any interest in her like that."

"Then who do you want to date?"

"I don't know... how about you...," he said quietly before ducking.

"Really Ranma?"

"Yeah, I mean you're the one I lo... lo... really like," Ranma choked out.

"Ok, it's settled. You win, I'll got on a date with you," Akane replied with a smile.

'Man, she so cute...' Ranma thought with a gentle sigh. "What if neither of us are right?"

"Then I'll go on a date with you and you'll train me."

"I guess I can live with that. I mean out of the two of us, I'm sure one of us can get it right."

Genma entered Tofu's attic and began to look through the various boxes, hoping to find some clue to the doc's age. At first, all that he could find were old medical records. He was about to give up when he found a large wooden crate tucked in the back area.

"Hello... What have we here? Looks like a treasure chest." He quickly found the lock on the side and used his set of lockpicks to open it up. Inside he found several books. He carefully picked one up and looked through it. "It's a diary. These must all be diaries."

He started to put it back when he noticed the date written on the spine.

"July 1889? Is it his great grandfather's?" Genma turned to the first page. 'The fighting has been rough and the wounded continue to arrive. I find myself remembering why I hated the invention of the gunpowder fired weapons. At least when they used arrows, you didn't have to worry about poisoning by lead. That, and they didn't have as much range."

Genma continued to read, finding the stories of Tofu's ancestor's to be better then any fiction he'd read in years.

The two landed outside the Cat-Cafe just as Shampoo returned from her deliveries.

"Nihao Ranma."

"Hey Shampoo. Is the old ghoul in?"

"Great grandmother inside. Why Ranma want to talk to great grandmother?"

"Come inside and we'll tell you at the time we tell her."

Inside, Shampoo went to find Cologne. Once they were all together, Ranma informed them about Tofu.

"Really? I guess you'd like to hold the party here?" Cologne said before taking a sip of her tea.

"Yeah. It's the only place big enough to hold the people we want to invite. So will it be alright?"

"Of course. I never did properly thank that Tofu for watching over Shampoo until I arrived." Cologne looked up and remembered when she first meet the doctor. 'They'd be surprised if I told them I already knew him before I moved here...'

Genma moved to the next diary labeled 1930.

'I've read through sixteen different diaries so far and it seems as if it's still the same person. The hand writing and grammar are basically the same. It can't be possible, but Dr. Tofu's ancestor was really an old man. Not that it would surprise me. I mean, Cologne is three hundred and so is the master. I wonder what this guy looks like now.'

Akane and Ranma walked side by side, unaware of how close they were to each other. The big news of the day however insured that they would probably be unaware for a while.

Their trip to the Cat-Cafe was a success. Cologne would let them use her restaurant to hold the party in. As a twist, Cologne even offered to do all the cooking to feed the guest.

"This is going to be the best birthday party ever!" Akane beamed as she said her peace.

"Yeah, got to agree with you there. Now we have to figure out who to invite."

"Don't worry about that Ranma. I know a lot of the patients Dr. Tofu sees and I can invite them personally."

"Right on!... Wait... What I am supposed to do in all this?"

"Oh, I've got an idea. I'm thinking you'll be the one to get Tofu to the Cat Cafe."

"I can do that, no problem!"

"Then it's settled."

"Hey, Akane. Remember that bet we talked about?"

"Yeah, I remember. What about it?"

"Well, I'm ready to make my guess."

"Me too. Ok. My guess is thirty-five."

"Ok. Well, I'm guessing Dr. Tofu is one hundred and twenty."

"One hundred and twenty! What makes you think he's that old?"

"Remember when I got that moxabustion mark from Happousai?"

"Yeah. How could I forget. You couldn't even lift your own back pack."

"Ha ha... Well, do you remember what he said when he saw it?"

"Not really. Refresh my memory."

"He said 'Why I haven't seen one of these in over a hundred years!'."

"I'm sure he didn't mean to imply he was that old..."

"Besides, I'm not really trying to win this bet. Sometimes losing is also winning." This statement cause Akane to blush a bit.

'Does this mean he wants to spend time with me?'

Genma reread the line again, this time out loud.

"In the last couple hundred years, I've never felt so confused as I do around her. That girl Kasumi just drives me crazy." He set the book down and starred into the dark attic. "I must be reading this wrong. He doesn't look a day over thirty, but the diaries. However I'm certain despite the minor differences in all the writing that they're all written by the same person."

"You're right Mr. Saotome. Those are all mine."

"AHHH!" He turned to see the pleasantly smiling face of Dr. Tofu.

"My, you must be a very fast reader. You're very good at masking your aura. I only noticed it a few seconds ago. Your concentration must have broke."

"I... I... I'm not stealin or nothin!"

"I assumed that much. I mean those diaries are old, but worthless to anyone but me. Well, maybe a hand full of historians." At this statement, Tofu suddenly began to laugh.

"I'm sorry!" He quickly got on his hands and knees and repeated this mantra.

"For what Mr. Saotome? Actually, this is rather nice. It's been a while since anyone's learned and it would be nice to have someone over to celebrate my birthday this year."

"Uh... Sure." He wasn't sure if he should be happy or not, so he choose to keep quiet. 'Where's the cold water when you really need it"

Dr. Tofu and Genma sat down to enjoy some tea.

"So doctor, do you mind if I ask you how old you are?"

"No, I don't mind, but I can't really say for sure."

"You mean you've forgotten when you were born?"

"To put it bluntly, yes. I can't remember what year it was, but I'm sure it was just over five hundred."

"Wow, pretty good looking for an old guy."

"Why thank you Mr. Saotome," Dr. Tofu said with his usual smile. "So Genma, what can we do to celebrate my birthday?"

'Hmm... This sounds like a perfect time' Genma cleared his throat. "Well, why don't we go to the Cat Cafe and get us some extra special Raman. After that, we can hit the town and party! Trust me when I say, nobody knows how to get down better then I do."

"Certainly. That sounds like an excellent idea."

'Hook, line, and sinker! Now Ranma, you'd better pull through for me on this one,' he thought to himself. "Ah... choo! Ow."

"Mr. Saotome, what's the matter?"

"Oh, it's nothing serious. That ingrate son of mine threw a rock at my back this morning and the impact spot still hurts, especially if I sneeze."

"Well lets go down stairs so I can take a look."

"You sure?"

"I am your doctor." Genma followed Dr. Tofu into the examining room. There, Genma removed his shirt and laid down on the table. Mean while Tofu quickly washed his hands before coming over. As soon as he looked, he gasped. "Mr. Saotome, the pebble is still imbedded in your back!"

"Why that lying son of mine! He told me it bounced off me! AHHH!" Pain shot through him as the doctor removed the pebble as quickly as he could.

"There, that wasn't so bad was it?..." Suddenly a small mark caught his eye. It didn't take long for him to recognize what it was. "Saotome, when did you get this moxabustion mark?"

"Huh? What are you talking about doc? I don't have anything like that."

"Yes Mr. Saotome, you do. From the looks of it, I'd say it's very old too. About ten or twenty years old."

"But that was when I was in training with the Master and Soun. Trust me when I say those memories are practically burned into me." As Genma went on about his training, a familiar smell of tabacco filled the air. Seconds later he felt a burning sensation on his back.

Miles around Tofu's clinic were suddenly rocked by a giant explosion. The blast radius leveled several buildings nearby. Several people nearby were killed instantly.

The explosion could be felt through most of Nerima. Houses in the immediate area were leveled and outside the blast radius, homes had their windows blown out. To make matters worse, there was now a fire rampaging through the town, threatening to finish off any building still standing.

The Tendo home shook as a shock wave hit. As it hit the home, all the windows exploded in a shower of glass. Ranma was about to say something when the phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Ranma," It was Cologne. " you need to get to Dr. Tofu's clinic right away. I'll meet you there."

"Alright." Ranma hung up and quickly told the others Cologne's instructions. "Akane, you don't have to go. From the sounds of things, it could be dangerous."

"Don't worry Ranma. I'll be fine."

"You better be." He reached over and touched her cheek. "Let's go."

Cologne hung up the phone and sighed.

"Ranma, this fight is not going to be easy. The battle aura I'm sensing is greater then I've ever felt and it has an evil feel to it."

Picking up the phone again, she proceeded to call all the other fighters in Nerima.

"What's that? My husband needs me?... There's been some kind of accident?... He's at Dr. Tofu's office. What's the address there?... Thank you. I'll be there as soon as I can." Nodoka hung up her phone and ran upstairs to get dressed. "At least it wasn't another sales person."

At the center of the blast, two men could be seen. One was laying on the ground, in a great deal of pain. The other was pulsing with power, but just standing in one place, completely unaware. Currently, this man was in his mind as memories he didn't realize he had were unlocked. Memories that could turn him into a killer and the world's worst nightmare.

He woke carefully. His head felt worse then the day he died. He tried to think of what happened.

'I was talking to Ranma's father. He complained about something. When I looked, I found... that mark. How Genma got it was something I'll have to look into. I went to apply the cure, but then...' He drew a blank. While his mind tried to sort out the details, his hands went up to check his head and neck.

'Yup, there still here. Means I'm definitely still alive...' He pulled himself up and looked over to see Genma in the same spot he remembered seeing him last. Dr. Tofu walked up to Genma and began to observe the slight changes in the bulky man's aura. He could see evil spreading into it. It was disturbing to say the least, but he couldn't figure out why Genma was just standing there, starring into space.

He wanted to check Genma's pulse when Genma started to move again.

"Hello Doc."

"Hello Mr. Saotome. Are you ok?" Tofu made sure to take a careful step back as he asked. He was hard to kill, but he had no doubt that Genma would not hesitate to try again and again. 

"Never felt better, Doc... Weren't we talking about your birthday?..." Genma said as a grin crept on his face.

"Yes...," He replied while taking another step back for good measure. He then made sure to raise a good defensive aura.

"How about I give you something that will last you a life time."

"A diamond Mr. Saotome? You shouldn't have..."

"Making jokes? Never struck you as funny... Heck, I've never struck you at all." His fist lashed out and impacted against Tofu's jaw. A loud and sickening crack could be heard as a result. Genma watch Tofu's body in delight until he saw his damage repair it's self before his eyes.

"Mr. Saotome, what's wrong with you." Instead of an answer, all he got was Genma's attempt to hit him again. This time he quickly dodged left and pressed a pressure point on the arm. For just a second, Genma's arm went completely limp.

"I've always thought you had to be a good fighter," he commented as he suddenly bulked up. The sudden shift in his size caused the use of his arm to return. 

"You're not bad. The best I'd say I've seen in over four hundred years. But I can't let you go any further."

"And your going to stop me? You've just barely managed to stun my arm. How are you going to stop my entire body from grinding you into a pulp?"

"He's going to do it with our help... Pop!" Ranma and Akane looked down at Genma from the roof a nearby building. 'Dad, I love you, but I can't let this go on.'

"Son! Your just in time. Join me. Together, we'll rule this planet and everyone on it. We'll fight whoever we want. Marry who we want. And most important. We'll kill when ever we want!"

"Old man, this isn't you speaking! It can't be. My father was a thief and a bit thoughtless and even a coward at times, but he still would never hurt people just for the fun of it!"

"Ranma, my boy, you've never met me before today. What you knew was a lie. A mask forced on to me by that shriveled old man next to you. Tell you what. You join me and we'll kill him first. How's that strike you?"

"Like the ravings a coward." Ranma leapt from the roof and took up a stance next to Tofu. "You ok?"

"Just peachy. I just hope my insurance will cover homicidal fathers."

"Wait for me sugar!" Ukyo landed next to the two men and pulled out her battle spatula.

"Shampoo help too!"

"Ukyo, Shampoo, this is dangerous. You shouldn't be here!" Ranma shouted at them. 'Stupid girls! Why can't they just let me handle it? Sure, I'm willing to let the doc help, but he can could handle a fight like this.'

"We're not leaving Ran-chan, so just focus on the target. We'll be fine."

"You all think your going to be fine? You forget, I'm just getting started!" Genma's battle aura flared wildly around, charging the air around them. Using the distraction, he charged faster then they could see at Tofu and punched him. His fist went right through Dr. Tofu's stomach, leaving a giant hole and lots of blood flowing from it.

"Tofu!" Ranma shouted. Suddenly, he built his aura up, trying to match his father's. 

Before he was ready to launch his attack, Ukyo charged in. She tried to hit Genma, but was back handed, sending her flying. Before her body could land, Genma once again moved beyond the speed of light and elbowed her down. She coughed up blood. Ranma could tell that without immediate medical help, she wasn't likely to make it past the next half hour.

"Uc-chan! Dad, how could you do this! These people. They were my friends! Have you really changed!"

"Yes, I have changed from what you've known of me, but I'm just being true to my nature. Your the one acting against it."

"NO!" His aura was now a heavy gold color and building in intensity.

"Impressive. I knew you were good, but to get to this level just because of a couple of... mortals is... Impressive. Sad too though. To feel anything for these maggots. Now it's time to show you I'm still your better!" He charged in at his son. As he did, his skin began to turn a soft red color, as if he was getting deep sunburn. Ranma tried to block his father's attack, but misjudged and blocked the wrong area. Instead of a gut punch, the fist veered up and uppercut him, knocking him out. "Now, should I let you live?"

"Genma?" The voice he heard caused his heart to jump. It brought memories to him that he didn't want. Memories of falling in love. Memories of dating and even getting married. It even brought back his first night with her. His mind became split as he tried to figure it all out. He was a killer, but he was madly in love.

As he tried to figure out the mixed feelings, a figure hit against his neck. The last thing he saw before the darkness claimed him was his wife Nodoka running to him. Thankfully, he completely passed out then or he would have seen her run to her son and not him.

The owner of the finger stood up and rubbed his stomach.

"Nothing like losing your stomach to make you lose your appetite..." Dr. Tofu commented as he checked around for the others.

Cologne looked down at Genma's unconscious body and light her pipe. Soon, she was ready and placed it against his back, burning a new moxabustion mark onto it.

"Old ghoul, what are you doing to my dad?"

"Just making sure when the fool wakes up that we can control him. Honestly, we got lucky with this encounter. If it wasn't for his wife distracting his thoughts, we probably would have never stopped him. With less strength, I have a better chance of discovering what has caused him to act this way."

"Oh... Yeah, that makes sense..." Ranma backed off and bowed his head. "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it Ranma, I haven't forgotten how you react without thinking. It's a bad trait of your father's I assume."

"Perhaps, but if I'm right, I don't know the real Genma. The one I know is probably gone forever."

"The man you called father is still there, it's just being confused with memories of a different time. Given enough time, he'll come to see the light."

"I hope your right."

"Until then, I hope you'll understand the need for me to take him to my village."

"Yeah, I do. Take care of him." With that, Cologne grabbed Genma and headed to the Cat Cafe. "Now, Dr. Tofu, you and me got to have words..."

"Uhh... Sure. I guess I owe you all that..."

The two sat down at the ice cream shop and ordered their food once Ranma got back from turning into a girl.

"You know Ranma, it's ok to eat ice cream while your a boy."

"I know. I just thought it would look weirder for two guys to be eating it together. Now, a boy and a girl eating together is much better."

"Ok, so you'd rather people think your girl side is on a date then your boy side, right?"

"Right..." Ranma-chan still didn't like how that sounded, but the ice cream distracted him from caring that much. "Now about that hole in your stomach that should have killed you."

"Mind saying that a bit louder. I don't think the people standing outside heard."

"Sorry..." Ranma-chan lowered her head and looked to see if anyone noticed what she said. Thankfully, no one seemed to pay attention. "Now answer the question."

"Alright. I'm immortal. I can not be killed."

"Can't be killed? How'd this happen?"

"It happened because I was born this way along time ago. I'd say about five or six hundred years."

"Five or six hundred years? Guess we both lost the bet."

"Bet?"

"Yeah, Akane and me, we sort of made a bet about how old you were. She guessed thirty-five and I guessed something like one hundred and twenty six."

"One hundred and twenty six? What made you guess that?"

"Well, like I told Akane, when I got that moxabustion mark from Happousai and you saw it, you said you hadn't seen one in over a hundred years."

"I said that?"

"Yup."

"Whoops..." He paused and took a bit of his melting ice cream. "No matter how old I get, I still slip every now and again."

"Immortal?"

"That's what I said Ranma."

"So you'll never die, ever?"

"Well, I can die, but only if I lose my head," he made a motion with his had across his neck. "literally."

"That means you'll be forced to watch all your friends and family die."

"That's true, but I learned a long time ago that all I can do is enjoy the time I have with them."

"I'm sorry doc."

"It's not your fault."

"Has anyone ever tried to figure out what makes an immortal different from regular people?"

"Not to my knowledge."

"You should. If you could solve that problem, you could save millions of lives."

"I probably could, but then I'd be responsible for stopping the births new children every where."

"What do you mean doc?"

"I mean, immortals can't have children. Ever."

Ranma-chan and Dr. Tofu walked from back to the house and swapped stories from their childhood. Ranma was surprised at how much Dr. Tofu could remember from his, considering how long it had been. All in all, it was a fun time and it left many thoughts in her mind.

Her mind was particularly focused on three thoughts. One was that both she and Akane lost the bet. That meant he would be taking Akane on a date. 

Two, she'd start training Akane once she made sure she could swim really well.

The third thought was on how much fun she had eating ice cream with Dr. Tofu and how much it felt like a date. Of course, she knew that wasn't what it was, but still, that man among men part of her couldn't help think about how it looked. Not to mention how it felt.

"See you latter Dr. Tofu," she said with a sigh as the doctor walked away. "Man, I've got to change back into a guy. These girly emotions are starting to get to me."

"So, Happousai... You want to tell us why Genma had that Moxabustion mark?" Ranma asked as Akane blocked Happousai's path.

"If you must know, during a particularly dangerous training mission into a deep cave to claim an Oni's treasure, we ran into the Oni. He wasn't too happy about our theft or so I thought... So at the time, me and Soun ran as fast as we could. Genma volunteered cover our escape."

"Volunteered? Sounds like you left him there."

"Hey, do ya wanna hear the story or not?"

"Go ahead Gramps..."

"Well, it turned out the Oni merged with your father to follow us. I discovered latter, the Oni was testing us and it found your father worthy. The rest of us it wanted to kill. So, did the only thing I could. I weakened him, sealed up the Oni's memories, and I claimed the treasure..."

"So once again, this is all your fault!"

Dr. Tofu sat at his dinning room table in his second clinic and thought about his day. It had been very long and his week was just getting started.

'Everyone I know and care for now knows. They know that I've lived for hundreds of years. They also know I can not be killed. They know the dark side of me. And it's interesting how they all seem to accept me. Of course, it's strange how the biggest tragedy happened because of that secret. 

'If Genma had never found out, he would never have been looking through my stuff.

'If he'd hadn't been looking through my stuff and learned my secret, I would have never thought to talk to him about it. 

'Then if we hadn't been talking about it, I would have never tried to help him with his back pain. 

'And last, but not least, if I hadn't saw that moxabustion mark while helping him with his back pain, he wouldn't have become evil like he did. It's quiet a viscous path we walked today...'

(Well, this is as good a place as any to stop. So far, most of the elements are basically directly from the original, however, I woke up this morning and decided one thing. Genma's not an alien. Ukyo is not a slayer. There is no Yoko (unless you count the wife of a departed Beetle..), Buffy and Angel will not be making a guest appearance or making out, and finally, I'm thinking up some ways to make Dr. Tofu's immortality mean more then just a hole in the stomach.

If you want to, you can see how this story originally played out by looking at "Ranma's life and the Madness that Surrounds It". That was the original "Dr. Tofu's Birthday" 

Thanks again for reading ideas on how to improve this story would be great!) 


End file.
